morning long for "gma" from 7:00 a.m. straight through to noon. fort myers on abc7 news at 5:00, the butte a.m. impact on the state. bay area first responders already helping those in need. you'll hear from some of them. plus, keeping the florida wildlife safe where some of the most vulnerable residents will ride out the hurricane. abc7 news at 5:00 starts right now. >> announcer: live where you live, this is abc7 news. >> the scene speaks for itself. hurricane irma lashes florida with intense wind and major flooding. hello i'm eric thomas. the hurricane has been relentless and the impact will be felt for days to come. live doppler 7 shows us where the hurricane is right now, moving north right now across the state of florida. meteorologist lisa argen will fill you in in just a few minutes.

right now we're going to take you to the state of frr and get the latest from marcy gonzalez live in tampa. what is the situation now? >> reporter: good evening. the wind and rain here are really picking up. this is just the start of what will be a long and dangerous night. hurricane irma pummelling the sunshine state. leaving downtown miami under more than waist deep water. white caps on city streets. >> look at this. we have flying debris all over the place. can you see that? >> reporter: those powerful winds snapping a crane, tearing off this roof and knocking this man off his feet. tornados adding to the ongoing danger. >> there's no warning. there's no -- there's no way to predict. >> reporter: the giant storm already blamed for several deaths in florida, including of a sheriff's deputy and a correctional officer. >> yeah, this storm has really picked up. >> reporter: after making land

fall this morning in the keys as a category 4 with 130 mile per hour winds, then a second land fall on marco island this afternoon as a category 3. the governor again warning people to stay indoors, with the danger still far from over. >> do not think this storm is over when the wind slows down. the storm surge will rush in and could kill you. >> reporter: the storm surge, especially a concern along the gulf coast in naples, it could be as high as 15 feet. to the north, irma sucking water out of tampa bay before it sent rushing back in. >> mike tyson once said and i never thought i'd be quoting mike tyson, everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face. and we're about to get punched in the face. >> reporter: preparing for that punch, 500 shelters are open statewide, some at capacity. >> this was our third shelter. >> reporter: and this one in the dark. and more than 2 1/2 million homes and businesses here in florida are already without power.

that number is expected to double apps the storm keeps moving up the coast. the worst still isn't expected for this area until overnight. we're live in tampa, florida tonight. marcy gonzalez, abc7 news. back to you. >> marcy, thank you so much. let's check in with meteorologist lisa argen and see where the hurricane is. lisa? >> the eye wall is getting shredded out. so, we can't see that quite as defined as we did but it is still a very powerful storm with a vast circulation. as we look at live doppler 7, you'll notice we can't make out the eye. but look at the yellow. all that energy over the northern half of it rain, thund possibly tornadoes throughout the next several hours. we still have the storm surge that we need to talk about. and it's still indicate gri 2 with winds of 105 moving north at 14 miles an hour. you can see how it weakens to a category 1 going to northern florida, the panhandle, looking at heavy rain. we could see 8 to 12 inches of

rain in florida. looking at wind gusts over 50 miles an hour. throughout the evening hours we're still looking at 60, 70, even 80 mile an hour wind gusts. back home we have our own weather to talk about thunderstorms offshore, hot weather, big changes to talk about coming up for tomorrow. eric? >> lisa, thanks a lot. first responders to the bay area are in florida tonight ready to help with rescues and relief from hurricane irma. the monster tomorrow is even impacting our very own colleagues. abc7 news reporter cornell bernard is live in san francisco. cornell, someone you know is in harms way. >> reporter: yeah, eric. and pretty concerned about a former coworker of mine named john who lives in southwest florida right in the path of hurricane irma. we skyped with john just a few minutes ago. >> here's the deal. my house is going to go right through the eye wall. i'm in the direct path of the storm. >> reporter: that's my former colleague john hunkered down in his bedroom in fort myers, florida, where hurricane irma is

raging. >> i do have an interior bathroom that i have set up as a safe place with a mattress to pullover myself in case it really gets bad. >> reporter: john's power has been out for hours but he does have a generator. he lives outside the mandatory evacuation zone, many of his neighbors got out days ago. >> i'm going to be honest, cornell. had i had it to do all over again, i think i would have left town on wednesday. >> we're looking at the sleeping arrangements that were housed in the gymnasium. >> reporter: tech sergeant shows us accommodations for some members at the california air national guard for mayor's office at field now staging in north american florida. these show a risky air mission on saturday when equipment and personnel were dropped in the hurricane zone near miami. >> drop them off in the middle of the storm, as the storm was approaching. so, we had tornadoes and lightning and all that stuff as we were landing. >> reporter: those guard members now in the perfect spot to help with ground or water rescues. >> we're here to support people

of florida. >> reporter: at a time when many will need it. in san francisco, cornell bernard, abc7 news. >> major airports across florida are closed and look much differently than they did a few days ago. airlines are not serving airports in miami, fort lauderdale, orlando or tampa. and there is no word when they'll resume flights to the area slammed by hurricane irma. following a mass exodus of people from that region. you can track the latest on hurricane irma through the abc7 news app, download it and enable push alerts to get the updated information and breaking news sent right to your smartphone. san francisco fire fighters are mourning a coworker who died while on the job this morning. coworkers found battalion chief terry unconscious inside his office at a firehouse in chinatown. he had just returned from a call. paramedics tried to revive him, but he was pronounced dead. he joined the fire department 26 years ago and is survived by his wife, two children, and a grandson. petaluma police are looking for whoever stabbed a man to death overnight in downtown

petaluma. they say the stabbing happened on a pedestrian walkway as local bars and night clubs were closing. the victim died at the hospital. another person was also stabbed but was treated at the scene. police say the suspect ran into a nearby parking garage and escaped. one person was killed in a fiery crash in novato. it happened around 2:30 this morning on highway 101 near atherton avenue. the car rolled over and burst into flames on someone in another car saw the fire and tried to pull the driver out but couldn't. the carlanded near the smart train traction service today was not affected. >> the pilot of a single engine plane that crashed in the sea shore thursday has been identified as 58-year-old john wilson. his wife tells the chronicle her husband had recently left their property in houston because of flooding from hurricane harvey. wilson just got his pilot's license a few weeksz ago. he took off from santa barbara to santa rosa for a business trip thursday morning. a small group of people rallied in support of 49ers

quarterback colin kaepernick before the team's season opener. abc7 news was in sclera whanta rise up for justice, organizers are frustrated that no nfl team has signed kaepernick. this followed his refusal to stand for the national anthem last season. >> there is no reason celebrities are allowed to speak out and athletes aren't particularly when athletes are predominantly people of color. they should be able to speak out on issues that are important to their community. instead they are punished. free speech should not come with a price. >> kaepernick said he protested the anthem because of police brutality and racial profiling targeting people of color. the shaking continues in mexico after last week's massive earthquake. the staggering number of after shocks since thursday. and partaking in a community tradition, pedestrians tak

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the death toll in mexico following last week's magnitude 8.1 quake has risen to at least 90. wha joaxa was the largest to hit mexico in a century.

thousands of homes have been damaged. after shocks continue to rattle the region since last thursday's big quake. thousands of people enjoyed an east bay tradition that dates back more than 40 years. ♪ abc7 news was in albany for the solano stroll. 50 entertainers performed at this year's stroll along albany's border with berkeley. it is the largest street festival. if you missed the stroll all year long, solano avenue is one of the bay area's most vibrant shopping corridors. coming up, an update on hurricane irma and the impact it is having on the u.s. main land, and a look at the widespread devastation throughout florida. >> now you can start to relax. the hottest day is behind us for the week ahead. we're looking at a toasty evening. it is 100 in concord, 79 in san fr

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this is a live look at the miami florida sky line tonight as hurricane irma unleashes violent winds and unrelenting rain. so far the storm is being blamed for three deaths. these victims include a deputy sheriff who died in a car accident. power has been knocked out to more than one quarter of florida's residents. that's about 2 1/2 million people. forecasters also fear the damage of storm surge would inflict in the tampa bay area. president trump has declared florida a disaster area. he has received a comprehensive update on the hurricane. they released these photos of the president, first lady melania, vice-president mike pence and karen pence being briefed from a retreat at camp dachltd. several cabinet members joined in on the update. president trump has spoken to several states that stand in

irma's path. many marched and even watched today's pride parade in oakland. abc7 news was on broadway when people enjoyed the sounds of a marching band and a dee jay. elected leaders like oakland mayor libby schaaf joined groups and contingents from several large employers. it was all near lake merritt. >> announcer: now your accuweather forecast with lisa argen. >> after such a toasty day, i should tell you that autumn is just a little over a week away. so, we have that going for us and certainly a cooler night ahead as the sun sets after 7:00, about 7:27. pretty picture outside for you but boy, it is still warm out there. the sun setting earlier, we will cool off, but check out these temperatures. we are looking at temperatures as much as 10 and 20 degrees above average. so, we do have a warm evening with a lot of clouds increasing tonight. to the south of us, and that

will allow for some interesting changes. so, as we move along, we'll be able to notice that the changes come as soon as tomorrow with partly cloudy skies and we're looking at a chance of showers. not only tomorrow, but into tuesday and wednesday. so, in fact, our forecast animation starts at 11:00 tonight and we're looking at some cloud cover moving up from the south. there's some strong storms off of santa barbara, the central coast and we'll stay offshore, but we'll increase the cloud cover for a bid. and then the low clouds and fog back up along the coast tomorrow. that's going to cool us off a bit. as much as 10 degrees cooler tomorrow and once we see that cooling we have to the east of us the possibility of some showers. 6:00 tomorrow you'll notice we have more cloud cover, and into the evening commute could see a few light showers. but as we go into the later part of monday, things quiet down. so, they are going to be just scattered showers. into tuesday we are looking at temperatures still above average. so, you'll notice it's still feeling warm out there, but as

we get into the middle of the week, wow, numbers coming way down. still looking at shower chances for wednesday, but by thursday it's going to feel like fall out there with the return to our normal weather around here. so, back to our computer animation as we pickup this into tuesday and wednesday. you notice the green on the screen. and that is just representing the isolated chance of showers between late tomorrow into wednesday. so, as we look at highs tomorrow, notice that we're down, but it's still going to be a warm afternoon in the south bay. 86 santa clara, look for 87 in san jose. peninsula numbers ranging from the 70s on the coast with low clouds for the time being, but we'll see some sun here. 87, a warm day in redwood city. the city today reached 88 degrees. so, yes, i know that was warm as much as 20 degrees warmer than yesterday. but 75 forecasted for the high tomorrow. up in the north bay we'll still have some mid and upper 80s, even 90s as far north as clover daily. 86 in sonoma. 85 by the water.

east bay will be another warm afternoon. 3:00, 4:00, 85 degrees. fremont head inland mid 90s for you tomorrow. looking at temperatures still on the warm side, but, boy, it will be about 5 degrees cooler than you were today. the accuweather seven-day forecast, 70s at the coast, 80s around the bay, 90s inland, chance of showers late. download our accuweather forecast app. the cloud cover and moisture moving up from the south we could see scattered showers tuesday, wednesday, and looking at the end of the week it's looking brighter. but a little hint of fall coming our way mid week after we get rid of this heat. >> we've had enough summer. i think a 4i7b9 of fahint of fa. the hint of fall i don't like is when the 49ers don't look good. >> you said that. 49ers took it on the chin in their home opener and i'll agree with eric. it was not pretty. while the raiders and tight ans have a great quarterback, (woman) when you have type 2 diabetes, there's a moment of truth.

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>> announcer: now abc7 sports with mike shumann. >> the oakland raiders kicked off their season with a huge road challenge against an up and coming tennessee tight an team led by marcus mariota. they answered the call. marshawn lynch taking his seat during the national anthem. once he got up he looked good. he had 14 yards. showed vintage beast mode toughness. he's be a great addition. derek carr finds amari cooper. short pass. cooper a beast mode of his own. rolls over the defender manages

to stay on his feet, pushes a back that would be tacklers to the goal line, 7-0 raiders. they keep the ball. 10 yard touchdown. they'll be fun to watch for the years to come. we're tied at 7. coop can't handle carr' throw on the first down. can't hang on. third down passed to coop, he drops it. they forget they have marshawn lynch. usually don't show you field goals.rge yo in his nfl debut, perfect 4 for 4 made it 10-7. raiders up 3 in the fourth. drops back, to seth roberts. raiders are 10 for 10 when roberts catches the t.d. oakland with a huge road win 26-16 your final. we are all weren't sure what to expect with the 49ers and their home opener against the panthers. i think we expected a lot more from both sides of the ball. niners have a long way to go. shanahan 49er debut. fourth quarter cam newton, short pass, tries to tap dance, but

gets taken out by ruben foster and a gang of 49ers. same drive, newton hands it to mccaffery, foster takes him down after a short gain. he's hurt on the play, injured his right ankle. you can see he twisted his right leg as he goes down. panthers driving, newton to russell, shepherd in stride. 40 yard touchdown pass and the panthers go up 7-0. got to make that tackle. second quarter not looking to answer. sprints his way open. how do you overthrow this guy? 13-0 panthers in the third. hoyer picked off by luke. great catch. he goes 23 yards the other direction. delivers a shot to hoyer. the end of the play ensuing drive, newton, short pass to jonathan stewart. watch this. flips over the niners into the end zone, rough opener for the 49ers. panthers win it 23-3. >> disappointing, but, you know, whether it's the first, last or any one i. the rest of my career it was disappointing. i don't think it matters it was

the first. any time you lose and lose that way it's frustrating and disappointing. feel that all day today and all night, i'm sure the players will, too. >> we were battling uphill. have to deal with our own mistakes. they played tough all game. made it tough on us. it's a combination of those things. >> j.j. watt, houston texas, taking the return in houston for the first time since hurricane harvey. jaguars would spoil the party. leonard former lsu star. first nfl touchdown. 12-0 jags. late in the second, tom savage stripped. dante fowler scoops. and he's going to go 53 yards the other way for a touchdown. jacksonville will go on to win big, 29-7 your final. pretty much what i expected in week one, both the raidsers and niners have a lot to improve on the difference. raiders have to win on the road. baseball coming up at 6:00. we'll see you then. >> how many twisted ankles have you seen in your time watching

football? >> actually you see a lot. i think you see more in the nba. the high ankle spranl, hopefully he doesn't have that. he said he should be okay next week. >> good to hear. thanks, shu. thanks, p next hurricane irma a impact on you're going to be hanging out in here. so if you need anything, text me. do you play? use the chase mobile app to send money

in just a tap to friends at more banks than ever before. you got next? chase. make more of what's yours.

coming up on abc7 news at 6:00, we're tracking irma as the eye of the storm closes in on tampa. after flooding the state's southern cities. and a search for a gunman tonight after a popular member

of the lgbtq community is shot to death. and later tonight, the 2018 miss america competition is back for its 97th year. you can watch ms. california and all the other contest ants go through the final round of questioning before the next miss america is crowned. the finale will be broadcast tonight at 9:00 right here on abc7 news. and many of you are special concerned about hurricane irma's impact on the nonhuman residents of florida. a family staying at the miami marriott hotel took these showing two parrots huddling outside their hotel room. the flamingo population is being escorted inside an enclosure. it is the safest place for them to be. our wishes are with you. if you have family and florida tonight as shu does in naples, how are they? >> they made it through. where is it going through naples? they made it through. big relief. >> good to hear. that's for abc7 news at 5:00.

we will see you right back here at 6:00. tonight, a special edition of "world news tonight." hurricane irma slams florida. the monster hurricane first making landfall in the florida keys and then barrelling up the coast of florida. >> it's horrifying. it is absolutely horrifying. >> winds more than 100 miles per hour, spawning tornadoes. the hurricane slamming into marco island. then right here in naples. and the storm surge on both coasts. naples and ft. myers, on high alert for a 10-to-15-foot storm surge. trees and power lines down. homes battered across the state. the last-minute rescues. but tonight, already some lives lost. finding shelter. irma's track, and the dramatic shift westward, leaving millions scrambling to evacuate. tampa will be tested next. into the evening, authorities say a storm this powerful for them hasn't been seen in a century. >> we're about to be punched in